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Friday, 30 October 2015

Sax-loving Ariana Grande debuted her new single 'Focus' today and it's as fun and catchy as it gets.

The new cut deploys a retro funk vibe, mixed in with some soul-pop, an infectious melody and a driving saxophone.

A backing voice, clearly inspired by James Brown can be heard shouting "Focus on me!" And I have to admit that despite sounding like a leftover cut from Christina Aguilera’s 'Back To Basics' era, this new bop is in deed a pretty cute song.

Rihanna has inked a staggering
$25 million deal with Samsung to sponsor her upcoming album and tour.

The New York Post reports that the deal was seven months in the making and took longer than
expected because Rihanna made last-minute changes to her album 'ANTi.'Jay Z and Rihanna’s manager Jay Brown assisted in finalising the deal.

That much was evident when Jay Z
was papped leaving the Samsung offices earlier this month.

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Sultry singer Tinashe has landed the cover of Essential Homme's first ever music issue.

Posing beside her is Dev Hynes who has produced on her upcoming sophomore album ‘Joyride.’ Tinashe is undoubtedly a pretty girl, but her promo roll-out hasn't been so hot and her new music has been quite underwhelming.

I think she might have sold herself short doing 'Playboy' so soon in her career. Most people wait to go that route after they crash and burn. No shade.

In the latest issue of i-D magazine, Adele gives her first world exclusive interview in three years, and looks great (read her entire cover story here).Wanna know what else looks great?

Her promo roll-out for '25.' She'll: * perform tracks from her new album '25' for an hour-long BBC special, hosted by Graham Norton (in November.) * perform on 'Saturday Night Live' (November 21st.) * film an NBC concert special at Radio City Music Hall on Nov 17th which will debut during Thanksgiving.

Hits Daily Double is reporting that Rihanna's team has moved off the November 6th release date of new album 'ANTi,' due to it not being ready in time.

Why have a very publicized exhibition for your album artwork if the album isn't ready? And there were fans thinking Rihanna would do a surprise release.

Rihanna is known to be a singles artist, and since none of her recent ones have been smashes, a release now would be risky. Let's be real, Rihanna needs those pop smashes if her album is to stand a chance at success.

Gwen Stefani’s new single 'Used To Love You' made its television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week.

Gwen is aging better than a lot of the pop chicks 15 years younger. But she really needs to ditch this big block of coloured hair. It looks terrible, and overshadows what was a really emotional performance. Heartbreak generates good music but will her comeback be huge?

Maybe not now that Adele is back on the scene. A lot of artists probably wish they came out sooner.

Tidal associates Beyoncé, Jay Z, and Usher were snapped backstage at Chance the Rapper’s NYC concert over the weekend.

This looked cosy. They probably got together in their leisure time to discuss how they are going to pull the struggling streaming service from out of those plunging waters.

Maybe Beyoncé will release her hotly anticipated sixth album on there. Of course this would be the dumbest career move ever, even if it were a sacrifice to Jay Z. He has used her enough already to promote the failing service.

Yesterday was Ciara's 30th birthday. In celebration, she hosted a star-studded Superhero-themed birthday bash right on time for Halloween.

The bash took place at the Warner Bros. lot in Los Angeles, where Ciara and her boyfriend Russell Wilson dressed up as Catwoman and Batman. The couple reportedly took it up a notch by showing up at the party in a Batmobile.

Beyoncé showed up as Storm from X-Men, while Kelly Rowland came dressed as Black Canary!

One might have spoke too soon. Rihanna surprised a sold out Hollywood Bowl with an unannounced appearance to close the CBS Radio’s annual 'We Can Survive' benefit show.$2 of every ticket sold benefits the 'Young Survival
Coalition'. Rihanna performed 'Stay', 'Bitch Better Have My Money' and 'We Found Love.'

Her appearance comes after word got out that Jay Z may be struggling to find her a release slot for her new album this year.

Friday, 23 October 2015

It's been 17 days since Rihanna unveiled the official artwork for her new album 'ANTi.' Rihanna hasn't been seen anywhere since her album cover launch two weeks ago.

Should we be worried? November is just days away and Rihanna has not dropped a new single or announced a release date for her new album. It only took less than a week for Adele to announce her new album and then drop the song and video a day later.

You don't create quite the spectacle over the unveiling of your album artwork and then drop off the face of the earth just like that.

Kelly Rowland previously guest starred on 'Empire' as the character Lucious Lyon’s mother during a flashback scene. Her stirring ballad 'Mona Lisa,'which was popularized by Nat King Cole, is featured on the 'Empire' soundtrack.

Hmmm... I don't know about this one. Kelly's been working on her new album since forever, and the chances are... we end up waiting two more years for it.Usually, when an artist puts out on the side music, I like to substitute it. But this gets no repeat plays from me. It's too Disney! Fans can purchase the music from the episode on iTunes now.

Thursday, 22 October 2015

This is a no brainer really! Rock and Roll Hall CEO Greg Harris discusses the 2016 Rock Hall Induction nominees, and rightfully capes for Janet Jackson.

"One could say if Madonna is in, Janet Jackson should be in," Harris
says. "She dominated that era and has been such an inspiration to
today's stars."

No lies detected. Despite liking Janet's music much more than Madonna's in the 80s, 90s and 00s, I can admit they've both contributed tremendously to pop culture. They both deserve to be up there equally.

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Right before his performance, Usher visited 'CBS This Morning' to discuss the inspiration behind his new song 'Chains.'

Usher's looking fine as wine, while discussing the victims of racial profiling and police brutality. He is aging wonderfully following his 37th birthday last week, which he celebrated with the Obamas. I wish he talked more about his upcoming album. Wasn't it suppose to drop well over a year ago? He did say he was in London this year recording it with UK producers but we knew that already.

"Just let me pose in peace, beyoootch!" Well, Beyoncé didn't exactly use those words when a pesky assistant kept on tugging at her eye-popping dress.

She was in fact caught on camera subtly telling the woman to "stop it" without even breaking a smile. Coooold!

The moment occurred during last night’s TIDAL X: 1020 event, and of course the woman stopped with the quickness! It kind of reminded me of elevatorgate, when Bey hid her irritation so well and utilised sinister control in a way that I couldn't.

Just moments ago, Janet Jackson showed sympathy to fans who have had their Instagram accounts deleted. Multiple accounts were removed after footage from her recent concert was uploaded to the social media platform.

Damage control is a good start, as Janet was getting negative press over it. I thought it was really drastic that users were losing their accounts just for posting 15-second concert footage. Janet says she has no problem with short clips. It's just that her team go H.A.M especially on lengthy clips posted to YouTube as they create contractual problems. Check out her statement below.

R&B veteran Monica is going on tour with special guest Rico Love this fall. Dates for 'The Code Red Experience' have just been announced.

The 22-date trek kicks off on November 12th in Las Vegas, and will support her upcoming new album 'Code Red.'

Monica has pushed back her new album to next year. Good decision. 'Just Right For Me' (ft. Lil Wayne) has done nothing on the charts and she needs a much stronger single to kick off this new album era.

Saturday, 17 October 2015

Chris Brown's cover art for his seventh studio album 'Royalty' shows the singer playing the doting father to the little girl he named the record after. The adorable photo was shot by Francesco Carrozzini.

It's such a cute album cover, but it's overshadowed by accusations he's only using his daughter for positive PR. As we all know, he doesn't have the best track record with women.

There's nothing wrong with him honouring his daughter but it's easy to see the possible ulterior motive behind it. 'Royalty' drops Nov. 27th and features the singles 'Liquor' and 'Zero.'

Rihanna's 'ANTi' campaign is kicking off slowly but surely. Here is the first look at the singer as a key advisor on NBC's ‘The Voice.’

I know a lot of people are going to look at this video and say Rihanna shouldn't be giving advice on vocals.

The goat jokes? So old now. Remember her X Factor performance of 'Diamonds'? That had to be one of her greatest moments ever, and she's clearly had vocal lessons. Rihanna can sing. She just isn't a SANGER type of singer, if you know what I mean.

Kudos to Tamar Braxton on remaining positive despite the poor sales of her (very solid) album ‘Calling All Lovers.’

"Who cares what anyone says or thinks or who bought it... who didn’t buy it (don't cheat yourself). Hell, even if you stole it, ‘Calling All Lovers’ is my BEST work and I’m PROUD of it no matter what!" she wrote.

The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 with sales of just 37,000 units.

Look at Cici, making it rain on hoes! She attended the New York premiere of 'The Last Witch Hunter' last night and looked so beautiful.

I'm just glad not to be the female lead actress who Ci effortlessly put to shame.

Though I'm not a fan of the dress, Ciara's face looked stunning and her body will make you feel like crap after a high calorie food binge. Ciara's song‘Paint It Black’ is featured on the film’s official soundtrack.